The U.S. market for professional laundry chemical products is a mature market with increased supplier consolidation, characterized as having a small number of large customers that have high service requirements and a considerable number of small to medium-sized end users. Margins are tight in this business, and end user consolidation continues to be a factor in suppliers’ need to maintain and retain their customers. Therefore, understanding the needs of end users is paramount.
Commercial laundries are the largest end-use segment served by professional laundry chemical suppliers in 2012, and the trend for hospitals to outsource their textiles to commercial laundries increases the importance of this end-use segment, finds the last published edition of Laundry Chemical Products: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities. Other important end-use segments include lodging laundries, extended care laundries (nursing homes, assisted living, and independent living laundries), small on-premise laundries, prisons and jails, hospitals, and other major on-premise laundries.
Ecolab is the leading supplier in the overall laundry chemicals market by a distant margin, with a presence across all laundry segments. Other influential suppliers are WSI, P&G Professional, U.N.X., Gurtler, Sealed Air/Diversey Care, and Diamond.
End users rate cleaning results and product performance/quality as the most critical buying factors when deciding which commercial laundry chemical products to buy and use. Environmentally sustainable products and lowest price per case were also rated as important factors when making buying decisions for laundry chemical products.
Kline last covered the laundry chemical market in 2012, and we’re eager to see how it has changed since then. To keep you up-to-date on the current state of the market, we’re working on the new edition of Laundry Chemical Products: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities. We will conduct structured research with end users, as well as in-depth interviews of suppliers, distributors, and other knowledgeable professionals on this market to estimate sales, understand market trends and challenges, and forecast the future demand. To learn more, please contact us.
